Ohio Congress members unswayed on shutdown after Trump’s primetime address

Sabrina Eaton, cleveland.comJanuary 9, 2019

Ohio Congress members unswayed on shutdown after Trump’s primetime address

WASHINGTON, D.C. - President Donald Trump’s primetime pitch to fund his long-promised border wall at levels higher than desired by Democrats in Congress did little to sway the opinions of Ohio lawmakers who issued statements after his speech.

While Republicans like Marietta Rep. Bill Johnson who back Trump’s demand for $5.7 billion for the wall echoed the president’s call for border security, Ohio Democrats criticized him for shutting down parts of the government in the dispute and requiring that more than 800,000 government workers go without pay around the nation, including more than 6,500 in Ohio.

Here’s what they had to say:

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown:

President Trump is taking paychecks away from thousands of American workers and throwing families into crisis every day he refuses to reopen the government. The President must end his shutdown and put Americans back to work. -SB— Sherrod Brown (@SenSherrodBrown) January 9, 2019

“It was clear tonight that President Trump is only concerned with stoking fear in the American people. Devoid of any facts, the President continues to tout the lie that a wall is the only way to secure our border—it’s not. In an era of advanced surveillance technologies and capabilities, a wall is laughably outdated. It’s like saying we want Model T cars, glider planes, or rotary phones back. President Trump’s focus should be on reopening the government as hundreds of thousands of federal workers are facing the grim reality that they won’t be receiving a paycheck this week.”

Both parties agree that we have a border security crisis but Republicans also have an answer. Congress needs to approve wall funding in order to properly address the national security and humanitarian crisis at our southern border. #SecureOurBorder— Brad Wenstrup (@RepBradWenstrup) January 9, 2019

U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty:

Despite @realDonaldTrump’s assertion of a crisis at the border, the fact is that border-crossing arrests are at historic lows. @POTUS only wants a ‘win,’ even though this core campaign promise was so soundly rebuked in the November elections. #TrumpAddress— Joyce Beatty (@RepBeatty) January 9, 2019

Ohio Gov. John Kasich:

The President needs to put the country ahead of politics. pic.twitter.com/ZyXZilJdfs— John Kasich (@JohnKasich) January 9, 2019